I walk each day
balancing precariously
between life and death

One wrong turn of the steering wheel
and I will cease to be
One moment of inattention
and I can choke on this mouthful of blissful food

My fate is sealed by birth
and by karma

The karmic saturated fats now in my body
that can choose to stop the regular beat of this heart, perhaps tomorrow
or the karmic disease
slowly ripening unknown to me
in my bones, in my lungs, in my blood, somewhere
who knows when they will appear
maybe tomorrow, maybe next year,
maybe in 10 years, 2 months, 3 days and 1 minute
nobody knows
but "it"  "knows"
not in a human way, of course
but "it" from which arises all appearances

We all walk each moment, so precariously
between life and death

Death will surely happen
we just don't know when
Certainly though
we may be in the middle of something
when it comes
and take us by surprise

realizing this
not  a moment to lose!

It isn't self-indulgence that will help us

all that indulgence of self
will count for not a single thing

At our very last moment
only awareness

As I type
I am flanked by 2 sleeping kitty cats:

Kitty kat 1 (on the left floor cushion): Princess
Details: white and orange tabby, smaller, very cute, a stray adopted by Anna
notable features: very loving. when she sleeps, if you put your hand to her, she will grab it and pull it in towards her body and hold it with both her paws and squeeze it.

Kitty kat 2 (on the right floor cushion): Sonnet
Details: black Tabby. A big ol cat. Much bigger than Princess. Sprawled out completely. He often sleeps on his back with all 4 legs up in the air and his tongue hanging out!
Anna found him too, a stray. Anna called him Sonnet for good reason...he sings like a bird...meows all the time! He's kind of a scrappy bully. Beats up Princess often and if he is outside, clobbers other cats. For that reason, we can't let him out. Sonnet LOVES to preen himself. Princess tries but she's just terrible at it.

Both of them get pretty tired in this summer heat and get pretty sluggish. I know the feeling! I posted an image of Princess here.

Sonnet uses the sumo technique, Princess uses the Karate